Defenders or Intruders?

The Dilemmas of U.S. Forces in Germany

Daniel J. Nelson

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2019
• eBook ISBN: 9780429718304
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military & Maritime History
• Index: History

Following Dr. Nelson's A History of U.S. Military Forces in Germany; this book examines contemporary socioeconomic problems created by the stationing of U.S. troops in West Germany (FRG). The issues are magnified by the FRG's strategic importance to the United States, the large number of U.S. troops stationed in the FRG, and the length of time they

1
The Structure of NATO and U.S. Forces in Europe

Though the united States has military forces stationed throughout the world, the majority are in or near Europe. Table 1.1 gives the figures for U.S. forces stationed in foreign countries, particularly Western and Southern Europe. By translating the numbers to percentages, we can see that in the case of army ground forces, 85% of all army forces stationed outside the united States are in Western and Southern Europe and 82% of all foreign-based army forces are in the Federal Republic of Germany and West Berlin. Of the army ground forces stationed in Western and Southern Europe, 96% are located in West Germany. In the case of the air force, 69% of all personnel located outside the united States are stationed in Western and Southern Europe, but only 32% of air force units outside the ünited States are in West Germany. Of the air force personnel stationed in Western and Southern Europe, 47% are located in West Germany.

The extent to which West Germany accounts for the great bulk of U.S. forces stationed in Europe is shown in Table 1.1. The army and the air force account for 87% of U.S. forces in Europe, whereas the navy and the marines account for 13%. Approximately 68% of naval personnel are afloat as part of the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean; the largest land-based naval contingents are located at bases in Italy, Spain, and the united Kingdom. Hence, most army forces and about half the air forces in Europe are stationed in West Germany, while most of the navy and marine forces are stationed elsewhere, though the latter two constitute only a small percentage of the total U.S. forces committed to Europe. West Germany, then, is clearly the central focus of the U.S. military presence in Western Europe. As only 288 naval personnel and 90 marines are stationed in the FRG, the U.S. military presence in Germany means, in effect, the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force.

The Structure of NATO

A brief discussion of the European structure of NATO is necessary in order to understand how U.S. forces in West Germany relate broadly to the NATO alliance. The apex of European NATO is the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (SACEUR), by custom always a four-star U.S. general. In peacetime the forces of the six nations stationed on German soil remain under national command, even though the commands themselves constitute part of the integrated NATO command structure. In wartime or other emergency, as well as during joint NATO maneuvers, these forces come directly under the jurisdiction of the integrated NATO command structure. The sole exception is France, whose forces since 1965 have remained exclusively under national command, though French troops have taken part in joint NATO maneuvers in recent years. The headquarters of SACEUR are known as Supreme Headquarters, Allied Powers, Europe (SHAPE), located near Casteau, Belgium. SHAPE and its commander SACEUR are responsible for three military regions in wartime: AFNORTH (Allied Forces, Northern Europe), which includes Norway, Denmark, and Schleswig-Holstein (the northernmost state of the FRG), with headquarters at Kolsas, Norway; AFCENT (Allied Forces Central Europe), which includes the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the FRG (excluding the northernmost state), with headquarters at Brunssum, the Netherlands; and AFSOUTH (Allied Forces, Southern Europe), which inlcudes Italy, Greece, Turkey, and the Mediterranean, with headquarters at Naples, Italy. U.S. forces in West Germany are assigned to AFCENT, to which Canada and the united Kingdom also contribute forces as noncontinental members. All of the integrated NATO commands are combined commands, including army, navy, and air force units.

The ground forces of AFCENT are organized into two groups: NORTHAG, the Northern Army Group, and CENTAG, the Central Army Group (see Figure 1.1). NORTHAG is divided into four corps, which are responsible for the defense of northern Germany (excluding Schleswig-Holstein, which belongs to AFNORTH) from the northern coastal area and the Elbe River in the north to a line running from Aachen to Göttingen in the south. These four corps are Dutch, West German, British, and Belgian, arranged along the border with East Germany in that order, north to south. Measured at the border, the NORTHAG front extends about 400 kilometers (250 miles) from Lübeck to Göttingen. CENTAG likewise is divided into four corps, which are responsible for the defense of West Germany from the NORTHAG line in the north to the Austrian and Swiss borders in the south. Two of these corps are West German and the other two belon...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Figures and Tables
• Preface
• Acronyms
• Introduction: The FRG-U.S. Security Relationship
• 1 The Structure of NATO and U.S. Forces in Europe
• 2 The Demographic Composition of U.S. Forces in West Germany
• 3 U.S. Forces and West German Public Opinion
• 4 The Nexus of Morale Factors
• 5 Alcohol and Drug Abuse
• 6 Crime and Indiscipline
• 7 Race Relations
• 8 Discrimination
• 9 Terrorism
• 10 Poverty Problems and Outmoded Facilities
• 11 Reflections and Conclusions on Morale Factors
• 12 The West Germans and the All-Volunteer Force
• 13 U.S. Forces and West German Security
• References—English Language
• References—German Language
• Index